Lamp-socket.



P mt E K RC 0 P m J L APPLICATION FILED NOV. 27. 1903.

PM WM lnVe ton Julius C. Tour 1W Ab Witne es:

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JULIUS C. TOURNIER, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO JrENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

LAM P-SOCKET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 12, 1905.

T at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JULIUS C. Tounnrnn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, county of Schenectady, State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lamp-Sockets, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to incandescent electric lighting, and has for its object to provideahighly-efiicientlamp-socketofstrong and compact construction, easily assembled and wired, and particularly adapted for use upon art chandeliers and in other places where esthetic appearance is of consequence.

For a better understanding of my invention reference may be had to the following detailed description and the accompanying'drawings, forminga part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a vertical section of a lampsocket embodyingone form of my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar View taken on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a plan of the insulating-base with the binding posts and contacts mounted thereon.

The base 1 is made of porcelain or other insulating material in the form of a cylindrical block with substantially flat parallel ends, the lower or outer of which is provided with two recesses 2 and 3, separated by a central wall 1. The larger recess 2 is so formed as to provide a ledge 5 slightly below the plane of the outer end of the base, a narrow channel 6 extending about half-way through the base at its ends and entirely through at its center and having its inner surface in line of a diameter of the base-cylinder, and a wider channel 7 extending outwardly at right angles thereto. The smaller recess 3 extends over less than half as much end surface as recess 2 and has sloping sides which converge to a square bearing-surface 8 at the bottom. The outer portion of the end surface between the recesses 2 and 3 is slightly depressed, as shown in Figs.

2 and 3, to form a ledge 9, upon which the in' turned flanges of the threaded screw-contact sleeve 10 are secured by means of screws 11 passing therethrough and through holes 12, formed in the base 1. The inner end of the contact-sleeve 10 is cut away at opposite sides, forming openings 13 and 14. A center contact 15, consisting of a metal punching suitably bent and shaped, is secured in the smaller recess 3 by means of a screw 16, passing through the base, and is provided with a binding-screw 17.

Upon the ledge 6 of the large recess 2 is secured, by means of a screw 18,.a metal yoke- .piece 19, having two lugs bent up therefrom into the transverse channel 7 and provided with apertures which serve as bearings for the key-shaft 21, and to the inner bent end thereof is riveted a flat spring 22, which extends through the narrow channel 6 to near the opposite end thereof and is bent at its free end to form a contact-surface 23, adapted to be brought into engagement with the flange of the threaded contact-sleeve 10 when the key is actuated. The yoke-piece is provided on its outer side with a binding-screw 24; and a retaining-lug 25 for the wire terminal,which is led thereto through an aperture 26 in the base.

The key-shaft 21 carries at its inner end a rectangular block 27, held thereon and caused to rotate therewith by a transverse pin 28, and is provided at its outer end with a metallic thumb-piece 29. In order to rigidly connect the thumb-piece 29 to the shaft 21 and insulate it electrically therefrom, the outer end of the shaft is swaged star shape at 30, surrounded by a bushing 31, of insulation, and forced longitudinally into an axial bore in the shank of the thumb-piece, where it is clenched in place by nurling or upsetting at 32 the metal at the inner end of the thumbpiece upon the end of the insulating-bushing 31. In order to inclose the parts carried in the recesses 2 and 3, a disk 33, of mica, is interposed between the outer end of the base 1 and the bent end of the center contact 15.

The inclosing shell is made of two cylindrically-shaped sections 3 1 and 35, each provided with a correspondiugly-shaped lining of fibrous insulation 36 and 37. The upper section is of a size to readily receive the base 1 and the parts carried thereby and is provided at its upper end with an internal shoulder 38 screw-threaded at 43 to engage a corresponding thread on the lower end of the upper section 34 below the shank of the thumb-piece 29. The internal shoulders 38 and 42 on the respective sections are so disposed that by screwing the lower section into engagement with the upper section the base 1 is engaged at its opposite peripheral corners and firmly bound in place between said shoulders, so that there is no looseness or rattling of the parts nor are there objectionable screw-heads or other unsightly projections anywhere upon the exterior of the shell. Moreover, the arrangement of the binding-screws 17 and 24: is such in their normal position with relation to the lower end of the upper section 34 that by removal of the lower section 35 access may be had thereto to secure or adjust the wire terminals without removal of the base 1 from the upper section.

I do not desire to restrict myself to the particular form or construction of parts shown and described herein, since it is apparent that they may be changed and modified without departing from my invention.

I/Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In a lamp-socket, the combination with a side lamp-terminal, of a single-piece base having at one end a ledge upon which said terminal is secured and two recesses separated by a central transverse wall, one of said recesses being formed with a narrow channel alongside said wall, a shallow ledge portion extending outwardly therefrom, and a transverse channel extending through said ledge portion, a center lamp-terminal secured in the opposite recess, a yoke-piece secured to said ledge portion and provided with two bearinglugs bent up into the transverse channel and having at one end a flat spring extending verse channel extending through said ledgeportion, ac'entral lamp-terminal secured in the opposite recess and provided with a bindingscrew, a yoke-piece secured to said ledge portion and provided with a binding-screw and two bearing-lugs bent up into the transverse channel and having attached at its end a flat spring extending through said narrow channel, and a key journaled in said lugs and adapted to force said spring into engagement with said side terminal.

3. In a lamp-socket, the combination of an insulating-base provided with lamp-terminals and a key for controlling the circuit mounted upon said base and comprising a metal shaft having an outer end of irregular cross-section incased in insulating material, and a metallic thumb-piece clenched upon said insulating material.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 24th day of November, 1903.

JULIUS G. 'TOURNIER.

Witnesses: I

BENJAMIN B. HULL,

HELEN ORFORD. 

